Crossfire Forum

Something I should have mentioned initially is that I have no knowledge of either programming or dealing with Unix, or any command line programs/shells/etc. Please keep that in mind for questions I ask and that I've been asking.

So, in relation to compiling, what is a current free-to-download program that I not only can install and run on windows, but can get sufficient help to actually use it for the purpose of what I'm trying to do?
I ask this because Microsoft Visual Studio 6, though mentioned in the wiki entry, is neither free, as far as I can tell, and neither is it current, so I don't know what I should be looking for.

Also, for the sake of being redundant, please keep in mind I have no programming exp. or knowledge, nor do I know anything in relation to using Unix or any command line things.

Faebren wrote: So, in relation to compiling, what is a current free-to-download program that I not only can install and run on windows

Visual Studio Express appears to be free.

Faebren wrote: but can get sufficient help to actually use it for the purpose of what I'm trying to do?

What help do you need? What problem(s) have you encountered?

Faebren wrote: Also, for the sake of being redundant, please keep in mind I have no programming exp. or knowledge, nor do I know anything in relation to using Unix or any command line things.

Programming is not compiling.

Usually programmers compile (aka build) what they program.

In this case, you are trying to compile/build work that someone else has provided.

One can, and often does compile without any programming or programming experience/knowledge/know-how.

Leaf wrote:Programming is not compiling.

Usually programmers compile (aka build) what they program.

In this case, you are trying to compile/build work that someone else has provided.

One can, and often does compile without any programming or programming experience/knowledge/know-how.

Well, I've never compiled anything before and came into this thread with no knowledge related to compiling other than a general idea of what it means. I'm just learning as I go, though not at a very fast pace.

Leaf wrote:What help do you need? What problem(s) have you encountered?

At this direct point in time I haven't made enough progress to hit any major problems. I'll post the questions and problems as I get them, though.

Hello.

Windows versions of the 1.11 release aren't yet published. Hopefully they will be in the next days.

The wiki page on building is (for now) dedicated to developers with experience, as it is expected that only people wanting to develop will want the current SVN version. But feel free of course to change it to make it more user-friendly

Ryo wrote: The wiki page on building is (for now) dedicated to developers with experience, as it is expected that only people wanting to develop will want the current SVN version. But feel free of course to change it to make it more user-friendly

If I actually knew what I were doing, then I might be able to make it more user-friendly. But I don't have that sort of knowledge nor would I even know where to begin.

Ryo wrote: Windows versions of the 1.11 release aren't yet published

That's something that would have been good to know earlier. However, at this time I'll just wait and not continue with this attempt of mine. Its been far more frustrating than I had anticipated.

Thanks for all the help given and the timely manner in which it was given. Good luck on coding and everything else.

This was posted on the mailing list:

Note that it will *NOT* work with Visual Studio 2008. There is a workaround to temporarily solve the issue, but it's not guaranteed it won't crash horribly at some point.

Technical details: VS2008 apparently changed the behaviour of snprintf, which will happily not add a final NULL when the destination buffer is not big enough. Crossfire relies on the presence of a final NULL and uses strlen after such concatenation... The result under Windows is dirty, obviously :p One fix is to increase the buffer sizes everywhere and hope you'll never try to put larger text.

Other solution (better) is to use StringBuffer for concatenation, which requires some work on the code... (something I have in mind, but not sure when it'll be done).

(note that there may be some other function or compile flag I'm missing, I didn't test everything...)

Seems all links to Visual Studio Express pre-2008 have been replaced or now redirect to Visual Studio Express 2008.

In that case, I think it might be a good idea to find a different compiler which works and update information on the wiki and website with directions on how to use it, what is needed to use it, etc. This might help alleviate situations such as the one I found myself in.

In relation to having the wiki entry for compiling on windows being more user-friendly, dividing it into different sections might help. For example, first set being what to download, second where/how to install it, third being a step-by-step process on what order to use things and how they are used. One easy way to keep it from being too confusing is to make sure that someone with no knowledge of the subject can follow it through to completion successfully. Another thing that might help would be to keep the programs and other stuff in the wiki updated in relation to current version and package, or with the package/version that is currently being used or works. This takes into account the fact that different versions might not work the same way as the version the entry was initially written for.

Out side of those two sets of suggestions, there is nothing more that I can do. I hope that they can be found helpful. If not, feel free to ignore them.

Faebren wrote:In that case, I think it might be a good idea to find a different compiler

Did you try any?

If so, which one(s)?

Faebren wrote: which works and update information on the wiki

Need to "find" one that works, first.

Leaf wrote: Seems all links to Visual Studio Express pre-2008 have been replaced or now redirect to Visual Studio Express 2008.

Except this one..

http://www.microsoft.com/express/2005/d ... fault.aspx

Windows binaries are now available for the 1.11.0 release:
* client
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/crossf ... 1.11.0.exe
* server
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/crossf ... 1.11.0.exe
* maps
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/crossf ... 1.11.0.exe